Morning all,
Thanks for the feedback.
I’m still moderately new to 3D, and finding things out on my own (bar this community), so I guess you could say I’m still testing the boundaries of what is large and what is small e.g. what is high settings for segments / resolutions / rendering, and what is low.
In this instance, it’s safe to say that I have added too many faces, and it’s basically too intricate for what I need (now I know!). I guess to reduce this, I will reduce the complexity of the follow me line, and reduce the segments on the circle / shape following this. I guess this would therefore reduce the overall number of faces etc.
Initially I had a really basic computer, whereas now I have a much better one (RTX 3080 + Ryzen 7 5800X), so I guess I’m pushing my toys to the limits, but now it’s the software that’s taking the hit. On a side note, some of my models are quite huge now, and I have noticed a CPU slow down, which I believe is down to the fact that Skechup doesn’t allow the usage of all CPUs? Rendering is fine, as it utilises CUDA, so primarily my GPU is cooking, but normal operation can slow down with the more complex models. I think it’s because of the the intricate detail of the models (high segments and likes of).
The reason for me adding so much detail, is whilst I do renders of large scenes (imagine a top down image of an office floor, with all the desks, doors, walls, plants etc) I also need to zoom into very small objects, such as a key, to show off features of that key.
Originally I used to use say 24 segments for a full circle, whereas now I use say 100 segments, and then add say 6 to 24 segments for the RoundCorner extension so soften the edges. I find that when I use reflective metal surfaces, the higher the count, the more realistic the shine looks.
The reason for me adding so many corners, is because of my need to zoom into objects. Imagine zooming into the pattern of a key. If low poly, then the edges started looking harsh.
On that note, I probably don’t utilise the Soften Edges feature enough. I’m guessing this will greatly help, and if so, can I ask how many segments people use, and what setting they put their Soften edges on? I’m assuming this will probably solve my initial issue!?
I have yet to create a full top down graphic that I’m proud of, but here are a few examples of the work I have done so far for context on sizing’s / usage of the model.
Pretty happy with this one. I have used blur to hide some more ‘basic’ geometry and I believe it also helps focus your attention to the door closer (which is the important bit):
Here is a new model I’m working on, which gives an example of a key.
Between the handle and the shaft of the key, you can see it fits perfectly, which is unrealistic, so I want to show some kind of weld or whatever they use to attach the handle to the shaft. The model I was trying to create beforehand was the weld element for this. I was then going to add that weld to the shaft / handle, hence I needed that to be ‘solid’ so I could then use the solid tools to add the two models together.
I guess I don’t have to make it solid, as I could just leave them as separate objects (for rendering purposes), but I have been having many of these problems pop up, and sometimes when you don’t have a solid object, it will show the holes in the model (where there is no texture and light is getting in!?). So for the sake of me progressing my skills, and to get the model perfect, I wanted to try and make this object solid, so I could then combine it all into one solid object.
Here is example of the handle to shaft section in mention.
